The Kitimat General Hospital is renovating it’s Emergency Room. To in order to maintain their level of service during the renovations, the BC Mobile Medical Unit has been brought up to Kitimat. On Friday, November 15th, members of the public had an opportunity to tour the unit.

“The Emergency Room Renovation project. It has been something that has been in the planning for a while and we finally got the go ahead and funding. The projects going to be starting on the 18th of November and it’s going to last approximately three months. For that three month period, the Mobile Medical unit was the solution we selected,” said Jonathon Cooper. “That will allow the contractors to complete the work within the emergency department.”

The unit is a part of Provincial Health Services and is equally shared around the province. It is here for renovation support. Emergency will be in there for the next couple of months. It provides support to emergencies and can be used for education as well.

According to Jesse Veenstra, Project Co-ordinator, It will most likely have 6 beds and a couple of chairs for patients who come into the ER. While it can get tight in there, they can service up to 8 to 10 stretchers. The Hospital and the Mobile Medical Unit will be making the transition as seamless as possible. They will be adapting the Ambulance drop off and there will be clear signage around the hospital to compensate for the temporary ER, located at the opposite end of the Hospital from the current ER.

The Mobile Medical Unit comes with a support storage unit which carries 72 hour’s worth of supplies for the Hospital. It is also the only trailer of its kind in BC or Canada.

Cooper told us the project will include a Ministry of Health Standard Observation Room, a workspace with computer stations for improved confidentiality, a store room for medication and equipment, a new triage area so people can come in and get assessed quickly and they are reconfiguring a utility room.

The total investment for the project is around $811,000. The Kitimat Hospital Foundation is contributing $10,000 to the project. This is their major donation to the Hospital.

“The Hospital Foundation has worked very hard to fundraise to do that, Its very much appreciated by Northern Health and by Staff,” said Cooper.

new operating theatre

Comment by J.Cruijff on 20th November 2013I assume that the man in the bed is the ultra sound technician, as he seems to be missing from the building for a considerate amount of time.